Formed eons ago - The Z/28 - were born frum the unusual arena of the UKs - Hot Roddin, Muscle Car and Drag Racing Underground - Ricky founder of the Ill-eagle ac {PUNK AMERICAN AUTO CLUB} - Scotlands largest AAC - decided to get together with a coupla work mates and form a band named after Chevrolets premier Factory Hot rodded Pony Car of the 1960s the Z28 Camaro - in an overly legislated and oppressive political corectness society it was the direction to go!
Meanwhile stateside the new Surfin Hot Rod scene wuz happenin - and fanzines like Speedkills and Gearhead plus Wagons of Steel were springin up featurin Garage Punk bands and Hot Cars - not forgettin Bike zines like Motorcyco - well the z/28 were strangely welcomed into this wurld and fer years over looked in the shadowy nether world of UK Music Scene and still are - for their anarcho-non conformist honesty - something that money-makers and businesses don’t like - plus the dificulty in catagorizing the style - they are not Guitar, Hardcore, Psychobilly, Rawk, Brit Pop, Hip Hop, Jazz, RnB, Folk what the hell are they? This difficulty in pigeon holing the group - mixed with being on the wrong side societies fence - created lots of problems in getting gigs initially - until some venues saw the live act as being a sorta Cramps/Rezillos type thing
Various drummers came and went - a cupla vocalists and Bass players done the same thing each time creating a stronger and stronger band which has un-stabalized with the current line-up The influences are far spread - from the singing cowboys of the 40s and 50s like Ray Corrigan, Hank williams and Roy Rogers - through the R n B Jump, Doo Wop and Rock n Roll of the 50s particularly the car and flyin saucer, monster shit! Plus the Garage and Punk scene of the Fuzzin sixties and Seventies - throw in some movies the papers warn ya about, highland pipes n drums n fiddles to plus the Noise and attitude of bands like the Dwarves, Nine Pound Hammer, Southern Culture on the Skids and ther ya have it.
Never knowingly refusing a gig! the z/28 have played a coupla hundred live dates with the most unlikely of bands and in the most unusual of locations - to this day they continue with that attitude. Venues include The Venue, Cathouse, Nice and Sleazy, Cas Rock, Music Box, MacDonalds, Livingston Forum, Whitehouse, Harburn etc mostly in Scotland and the North of England. The band have built up a strong following mainly amongst the mainstream society outcasts - bikers and punks and for some reason anyone who feel s socially rejected!! ??
They also play small town halls all over as much as possible, taking z/28 music to the Social and Welfare clubs of the country! The bands z/28 have gigged with over the last 5 years include - Man or Astroman - The Meteors - New Bomb Tuks - The Queers - Chelsea - UK Subs - Armitage Shanks - George Hamilton to name but a few - 2 live videos of z/28 are available from Barn End Video of Carlisle and the Wrecks from the Highway CD from JSNTGM Descriptions of the Z/28 seem to veer toward the contrastingly ridiculous like - ELVIS meets BLACK FLAG or AC/DC play JOHNNY CASH or The CRAMPS n CLASH, clash! - we like it though! One of the few live Experiences left thats 100% real - forget the pyrotecnics where is that dildo and hacksaw!
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